European UnionDeadline PassedNon-profit, Private Business, Research Institution, Public Institution, Other
Economic inequalities and their impact on democracy
Innovative Research on Democracy and Governance (2025)
Funding Amount
€3.0M - €3.5M
Deadline
16/09/2025
Eligible Organization Types
Non-profit, Private Business, Research Institution, Public Institution, Other
Trusted by
What is the Economic inequalities and their impact on democracy Call?
Grant Description
This call supports research and innovation actions in social sciences and humanities to understand how economic inequalities and citizens’ perceptions of them affect democratic attitudes and participation. It addresses the challenge of rising within-country wealth and income gaps that fuel political polarisation and distrust in democratic institutions. Projects must adopt an intersectional perspective across local, national and transnational contexts, use existing and new data sources, involve d...
Required Results for Successful Funding
Expected Outcomes
Funded projects will:
• Deliver an enhanced understanding of the interplay between economic inequalities and attitudes towards democracies via intersectional analyses across multiple territorial contexts;
• Provide deeper insights into both objective and perceived economic inequalities among diverse demographic groups and their impacts on public participation, policy preferences, attitudes toward women’s and minority rights, and trust in democratic processes;
• Produce evidence-based policy recommendations that bridge research and policymaking, offering targeted measures to inform discussion and foster adoption of solutions countering democratic distrust;
• Demonstrate effective use of existing datasets and exploration of new data avenues to study the effects of economic inequalities on democratic engagement and trust;
• Develop novel methodological approaches and strategies to bolster understanding of, and participation in, democratic processes among economically vulnerable populations, including low- or no-income individuals and those at risk of downward social mobility, integrating factors such as age, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, and disability.
• Deliver an enhanced understanding of the interplay between economic inequalities and attitudes towards democracies via intersectional analyses across multiple territorial contexts;
• Provide deeper insights into both objective and perceived economic inequalities among diverse demographic groups and their impacts on public participation, policy preferences, attitudes toward women’s and minority rights, and trust in democratic processes;
• Produce evidence-based policy recommendations that bridge research and policymaking, offering targeted measures to inform discussion and foster adoption of solutions countering democratic distrust;
• Demonstrate effective use of existing datasets and exploration of new data avenues to study the effects of economic inequalities on democratic engagement and trust;
• Develop novel methodological approaches and strategies to bolster understanding of, and participation in, democratic processes among economically vulnerable populations, including low- or no-income individuals and those at risk of downward social mobility, integrating factors such as age, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, and disability.
Funded areas
Scope Requirements
Proposals must:
• Focus on within‐country wealth and income inequalities (money, financial assets, real estate) and their democratic implications;
• Adopt an intersectional perspective integrating at least three other inequality dimensions (e.g. sex, gender, disability, social class, religion/belief, age, ethnic/racial origin, citizenship/nationality);
• Incorporate citizens’ perceptions of inequality alongside objective indicators, with comparative and intergenerational analyses;
• Cover diverse territorial contexts beyond urban/rural dichotomies and consider geographic mobility patterns (inter‐city, rural‐urban, national, international, temporary/permanent migration);
• Examine both design and implementation phases of policies addressing economic inequalities;
• Involve interdisciplinary consortia (economics, political economy, political science, public administration, history, sociology, psychology, gender studies, data science, public policy);
• Engage a diverse array of stakeholders and demographic groups in co‐creation and dissemination;
• Use and/or produce data in compliance with FAIR principles, leveraging European social sciences and humanities research infrastructures and the EOSC;
• Seek synergies and cooperation with specified H2020 and Horizon Europe projects and communities of democracy practitioners.
• Focus on within‐country wealth and income inequalities (money, financial assets, real estate) and their democratic implications;
• Adopt an intersectional perspective integrating at least three other inequality dimensions (e.g. sex, gender, disability, social class, religion/belief, age, ethnic/racial origin, citizenship/nationality);
• Incorporate citizens’ perceptions of inequality alongside objective indicators, with comparative and intergenerational analyses;
• Cover diverse territorial contexts beyond urban/rural dichotomies and consider geographic mobility patterns (inter‐city, rural‐urban, national, international, temporary/permanent migration);
• Examine both design and implementation phases of policies addressing economic inequalities;
• Involve interdisciplinary consortia (economics, political economy, political science, public administration, history, sociology, psychology, gender studies, data science, public policy);
• Engage a diverse array of stakeholders and demographic groups in co‐creation and dissemination;
• Use and/or produce data in compliance with FAIR principles, leveraging European social sciences and humanities research infrastructures and the EOSC;
• Seek synergies and cooperation with specified H2020 and Horizon Europe projects and communities of democracy practitioners.
Additional Conditions for Applicants
Special Conditions
• Grant format: Horizon Europe lump sum under HORIZON-AG-LS;
• Proposal Part B page limit: 50 pages; mandatory submission of detailed lump sum budget table template;
• Single‐stage submission by 16 September 2025, 17:00 Brussels time;
• Eligibility: as per Annex B (EU Member States, Associated Countries, eligible third countries with specific provisions);
• Evaluation and award per Annex D (award criteria, thresholds) and Annex F (process, timeline); financial and operational capacity per Annex C; cost eligibility per Annex G;
• Mandatory cooperation with the Community of democracy practitioners under HORIZON-CL 2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01-12 and building on results from H2020-SC6-REV-INEQUAL-05-2016 and other specified topics;
• Data produced must be FAIR; proposals should leverage EOSC services and relevant Data Spaces;
• Applicants must comply with the Decision of 7 July 2021 on lump sum use and the model grant agreement provisions.
• Proposal Part B page limit: 50 pages; mandatory submission of detailed lump sum budget table template;
• Single‐stage submission by 16 September 2025, 17:00 Brussels time;
• Eligibility: as per Annex B (EU Member States, Associated Countries, eligible third countries with specific provisions);
• Evaluation and award per Annex D (award criteria, thresholds) and Annex F (process, timeline); financial and operational capacity per Annex C; cost eligibility per Annex G;
• Mandatory cooperation with the Community of democracy practitioners under HORIZON-CL 2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01-12 and building on results from H2020-SC6-REV-INEQUAL-05-2016 and other specified topics;
• Data produced must be FAIR; proposals should leverage EOSC services and relevant Data Spaces;
• Applicants must comply with the Decision of 7 July 2021 on lump sum use and the model grant agreement provisions.
Important dates
Open from: 15/05/2025
Deadline:16/09/2025
Application period has ended
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